Suikoden Tierkreis: Krisna Company & Lauknas Raps
by DarkLozFanUberest
Summary: Memories are rekindled through the help of mysterious Chronicles; Worlds Collide; Epic Battles; And Romance. HA! That isnt even the HALF of it! Major OC usage. They Are Everywhere! Full summary inside: Canon & OC pairings, slightly AU, rating may change.


Okie Dokie! This is my new story! And it's a extremely _SUPERIOR_ story, too! As you saw in the summary, before clicking on the title button, this is a story involving some pretty interesting stuff, huh? ((NO, You Lie! YOU LIE!)) …NEway, as promised, there is a full-er summary below. VICTORY for _You_! So my minions (you know who you are~) **DO NOT** "_Avoid it like the Plague_", kick back…relax…and read this awe-summoning story!...Well, read the summary first, you know…if you want…maybe check out some other stuff…get a taco…grab a few of those animal thingy you have somewhere nearby…but then, _then_ you read this awe-summoning story! _I command you!_ And if not, eh…whatever, I only have only 1 thing to say to you…_**BE GONE WITH YoooOOOOoou!**_ NEway, if you doo wanna read the story, carry on…you'll be glad you did! ((I'm glad it had a happy ending after all... Me too.)) **Be Quiet, you're giving it all away! **If NEone else say NEthing, _**YOU. WILL. PAY.**_ …Oh, I'm sorry, that was a terrible ramble…and so…IZ-filled…ah well, I'm making some pastries right now (and yes that includes Cakes, Cupcakes, Muffins, and Bacon filled Meatlogs! YAY!), and I have to go now…so…ENJOY!

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Memories are rekindled through the help of mysterious Chronicles; Worlds Collide; Epic Battles; And Romance. HA! That isnt even the HALF of it! Major OC usage. They Are Everywhere! Full summary inside: Canon & OC pairings, slightly AU, rating may change.

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_Meya is the middle child of the village Elder, and lives in a particularly peaceful village surround by her best friends. Her father and elder sister are a little over protective, and her friends are a little crazy, but regardless, she and her friends all go out on adventures and have lots of fun. In short, Meya's live is practically perfect. _**/** And you know, as soon as someone says 'that' there's a catch. Well, guess what? You were right. The real story starts with monsters, oh yes, monsters. Following the appearance of a strange book, Meya and her young friends are all thrust into a tale of adventure and drama. They face great turmoil and great victories. They hone their skills through physically staggering battles and quests. They meet new friends; more than they ever thought they could in one lifetime, and form strong bonds with people who live in totally different worlds, in so many aspects of the term. Friendships and Loyalties are tested. Trust is Broken. Lives are Lost. And of course, what would an epic story be with out romance? Surprising. And this tale _is_ surprising, but not _that_ surprising.

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This story may be based on Suikoden Tierkreis, for all extents and purposes, but there truly is, so much more than that. However, these are extremely bold claims, qui, and are left to be proven; But please, feel free to give your opinion on this story, whether that be good, or bad, but don't be a jerk. This is a very hard worked on story, and while just criticism is welcome, baseless slander is NOT. So far this story is UnBeta'd so if anyone wishes to take up this role, or just submit ideas or questions, feel free. I look forward to your imput, and hope you all enjoy, what is perhaps the longest chapter I have made in one go. Expect revisions to this and the following chapters at one point or another. Also, I do not own anything regarding Suikoden or any of the pre/sequels. And I own neither the plot of the game Suikoden Tierkreis, which sadly this story follows more than loosely…this is in fact a hard work in progress…nor do I own anything I may reference within this story that can be claimed, including the Prussian Language (Yes, with a 'P'). I _do_, however, own my beyond numerous Original Characters, and what impact they make with in the storyline of Suikoden Tierkreis. The story starts out with one OC, but you will quickly see more and more appear, or references towards them. Lastly, as afore mentioned, this does not follow, exactly as the game goes, so it can be considered slightly AU, but please, do not look that far into it. This is merely an honest story spawned from both boredom and inspiration, love and hate, war and peace, words to that effect. Now please, Enjoy _Suikoden Tierkreis: Krisna Company & Lauknas Raps.

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**Suikoden Tierkreis: Krisna Company & Lauknas Raps**

A Suikoden Story

**: BOOK I : **

**: CHAPTER ONE : **

"_**That Which is Revealed and Concealed"**_

**Created by DarkLozFanUberest

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**

"_Sleep…I want…to…sleeeeeep!_"

"Uh…Meya? Are you okay honey?" A concerned voice asked from somewhere above my head, I blearily looked up, with only one eye open, to see Sisuca, my elder sister _and_ mother for all extents and purposes. She was giving me a rather worried look as she paused in making breakfast for the others and myself.

"'M fine…" I muttered, yawning and stretching out my lithe body, "rather be sleeping, though…" I rolled over on the floor and sort of curled up, glad for the sunspot I was lying in, it was cozy.

"Of course you would," a calm voice drifted from the dining table, "you are part cat, after all."

I craned my neck slightly to glance over at my best friend who was sitting at the table, arms crossed, staring over at me blankly.

"Whatever Jale…" I sniffed, lifting one hand to scratch behind my ear, "it's Uppin's fault anyway…that I have to be awake right now…I bet he isn't even awake yet…" I huffed and rolled over so that I was upright.

((A/N: Uppin is what I named the Hero from the Suikoden Tierkreis Game))

Stretching again, I slowly stood up and made my way over to where Jale was sitting.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, when I suddenly plopped myself into his lap and made myself comfortable, "…You know, this is a little unfair Meya." Jale grumbled, though the half smirk on his face made it seem as though he was teasing me, and I bristled slightly at the thought.

"Oh? And why is that?" I grumbled, turning my head towards him, daring him to say something.

"Well, you're not exactly the _lightest_ person on the planet…" he started, drifting off as his smirk grew.

"Are you calling me fat?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I didn't say that…" he said, glancing away, the smirk never leaving his face.

Sisuca, who had been watching us for a minute or two, smiling slightly as she shook her head, already exasperated at our mild bickering.

"Really? Cause it sounded to me like you were," I growled, glaring at him and twisting where I was, it was a little awkward, glaring at someone from their lap.

"Give it a rest you two," a deep voice laughed from the other side of the room. I glanced over to see one of my friends' father, Rajim.

"You know he's just teasing you Meya," Rajim said with a smile, as I pouted slightly, electing to lean back against Jale, making him whine.

"Agh, Meya, you're squishing me…" he shifted slightly, trying to get me off his lap, but I just smirked and leaned back further, making an effort to flick my reasonably short, brown hair into his face. Jale huffed, but left well enough alone.

Rajim laughed at us and made to sit down in the chair beside us, just as the others burst inside, Uppin leading the charge. He was followed by his best friend Liu, and my younger sister Marica.

"My, my!" Sisuca exclaimed, quickly darted over to them a big smile on her face, "How are we all today?"

"Oh, hi Sisuca!" Marica said, seemingly surprised by her sister's enthusiasm. Liu on the other hand greeted her calmly, smiling while Uppin kind of freaked out, letting out a "Yikes!"

Sisuca then got angry at him and saying that he had shamed his "poor mother," I laughed at that as Uppin insisted she wasn't his mother and Marica countered him and put him in his place.

"Ah, there you are!" Elder Rajim made himself known and made his way over, while Jale unceremoniously dumped me from his lap so he head over to the store like he had planned to before the others had come in. He just walked past everyone, too distracted by Sisuca to notice.

"I guess it's a little late to be asking this," Elder Rajim said, "but are you kids really intending to go?"

"We _better_ be going," I huffed from the floor before anyone could speak, causing all eyes to go to me, "I didn't wake up this early for nothing!"

Uppin laughed at me and rubbed the back of his neck, Liu and Marica just sort of gave me a curious look as to why I was on the ground while I stood up, casting a glare over at where Jale had left.

"Don't worry! Of course we're going Meya!" Uppin exclaimed and Sisuca made him promise he wasn't going to do anything reckless and "worry mommy," much to his dismay.

Then Sisuca threatened us all lightly to be careful or she'd wash our wounds with salt water, and I grimaced while the others seemed a little offended.

"Ooh, why so serious this morning Sisuca? You know Dirk and I are going to take care of them."

"Well, I would feel better if you all didn't go at all," Elder Rajim said, twisting his beard slightly, "Marica and Meya are both my daughters, but I think of all of you as my children."

"Same here!" Sisuca exclaimed, "each and everyone of you is my precious little baby!"

I sighed and shook my head while the others whined at her, Marica exclaiming that she was our sister, and not Sisuca's baby.

Then everyone noticed that Jale wasn't there and asked where he was. I grumbled slightly and Elder Rajim explained that Jale had gone to the store and asked us to go get him so that he could talk to us in the square before we left. I rolled my eyes at that, but decided to follow them rather than stay behind with my _mother_.

* * *

We quickly made our way over to the General Store to find Jale picking up some stuff for our trip to the Eastern Hill.

"Hey Jale!" Uppin exclaimed, waving like an idiot as we all made our way over.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"Liu overslept." Marica explained plainly, making both Jale and I raise our eyebrows at him.

"Your kidding?" I demanded incredulously, "It wasn't Uppin that overslept?"

"Yeah, yeah! It's all MY fault." Liu huffed before changing the subject, "Anyway, what are you doing here Jale?" he asked and Jale smirked slightly.

"Here you go." He said, deciding to just hand over what he had bought rather than explain himself. We each took a tiny glass container filled with medicine for if we got injured on our trip. I placed mine in a tiny sash attached to the back of my Obi that I wore as a belt over my Yukata, unlike my friends I wasn't wearing any armor, unless you counted the silver band around my neck armor.

The rest of my outfit, in case you were wondering, consisted of my Mauve Yukata top that was always open (made of Silk Cloth), with its black under sleeves and my white undershirt/bra (made of Cotton Cloth)that was showing, it was a usual thing for me, much to Sisuca's distaste. I was wearing my usual long black pants (they were made from Gazelle Fur and very comfy) and I also had on my gloves on and my pink obi sash (both made from different animal hides) that tied behind me in a big bow, hiding my various tiny, sharp weapons. The boots that I wore were made from a shiny material, and were obviously made with an animal hide, but I don't know what type it was. Most of the weapons I had were made from animal claws, or fangs, or horns, all of which I had gotten on the rare occasions Dirk and I met traders outside the village. Anyway, back to the story.

((A/N: Yeah~ I pretty much stole Meya the outfit from Sheena Fujibayashi, from Tales of Symphonia…its not that I _like_ that outfit so much as there is a lot of pink, but she doesn't wear it for ever so…yeah…did that give too much away? Oh well, couldn't have her very well be naked now could I? This story is rated T after all. XD))

Uppin seemed surprised for some reason and Jale explained that he knew Uppin would forget things like Medicine and so had gotten some himself.

All of a sudden the woman in the General Store turned around with a rather ticked off expression on her face.

"Shame on you Jale!" she exclaimed and we all turned to look at her, "You know I gave you that Medicine to give to everyone, don't act as though you bought with your own money!"

We all then looked at Jale, myself smirking, and he just sort of looked away, a small smirk on his face.

"Busted…" He said and I laughed with a small smile, "_Dummy_."

"You're incorrigible." Marica said, shaking her head, but she was smiling, too.

"I've lived in this village for three years now, but sometimes I still don't get you, Jale." Liu muttered, a bewildered expression on his face.

Uppin, being a gentleman, I coughed, turned to the woman and grinned as he usually did, waving at her.

"Thanks Gran! We really appreciate this!"

"Yeah, we'll take good care of it!" Marica and I called out, laughing slightly, "Hope we don't have to use it though..." Liu muttered, causing us to laugh some more.

Gran brushed it off as nothing and told us to be careful.

"No need to worry about us!" Uppin exclaimed and I pranced over and wrapped my arm around his neck, "Yeah, they're in capable hands!"

"Okay, let's go." Jale said, leading us away as Uppin and I waved back at Gran.

We made our way over to the square, Marica muttering about Elder Rajim giving us lectures.

* * *

Once we all got to the Town Square I let go of Uppin and snuck up behind Dirk, who was already there, waiting for us. He had turned to wave at Marica and the others, and completely missing me. I was right behind him before he noticed anything, no thanks to Marica and Liu grinning away.

"Hey, where's Meya?" he asked, looking around, and then eying Marica and Liu, "and what are you two grinning…uh oh."

I jumped and landed on his back, my arms wrapped around his neck and my hands over his eyes, causing him to nearly fell over.

"Ahh!" he shouted, waving his arms around.

"Guess who~" I sang, and the others all laughed, Elder Rajim sighed and shook his head.

"Would you mind getting off of him, Meya?" he asked and I pouted, "Aw! Dad! You ruined the surprise~!" I exclaimed, mock-angry, sliding off Dirk's back, and Elder Rajim just shook his head again.

"I'll ask you again, are you sure you're ready?" he asked and Uppin raised his fist, "Like I said, we won't know unless we try!"

"That again!" Elder Rajim stated, "Why do you always…?" But then he just shook his head.

"That's his mantra, Elder." Jale said, causing us to look at him, me still standing next to Dirk.

"You'll never get another answer out of him." Liu added, shaking his head with a grin.

"Yeah, you ought to be used to it by now, Dad." Marica said and I smirked, "Especially seeing as that's practically _all_ he says."

"That's right!...Hey!" Uppin threw me a mock-glare, but then grinned whole-heartedly.

"Dear me…" Elder Rajim sighed, "I don't know whether to think you kids very brave or very reckless…"

"Ah, you know us Dad! We're bravely reckless! …or was it recklessly brave?" I wondered aloud and the others laughed again, causing me to grin.

"It worries me that you do not seem to comprehend how serious today will be. Listen. You may think they're "just laggards," but lately they've been getting more and more vicious. They're forming packs, destroying farms-attacking people. That's what you're up against! You shouls-"

"Hey, Dad, Dirk and I know that," I pouted, "why do you think we're going with them today? We can take care of it!" I exclaimed pointing my thumb at myself.

"Yeah, you've told us that a million times already!" Uppin said, crossing his arms.

"Maybe you're getting old Dad. You're saying the same things _over and over-_"

I giggled as Elder Rajim spun around to face Marica, small scowl on his face.

"What was that Marica? That's no way to speak to your-"

"Now, now Elder." Dirk grinned and laughed quietly at my sister and father, "These guys are pretty good. You don't have to worry about them so much. Besides, Meya and I will be with them."

"Yeah, dad, don't be so edgy!" I laughed too, and Elder Rajim sighed.

"Well, if you say so, Dirk…" Elder Rajim said and I scowled, "Hey! What about me?" I pouted, but just huffed when he gave me a blank look.

"Very well, I won't say another word. I'll leave the matter of the Laggarts in your hands!" He then gave a hard look, "But don't be foolhardy. If it proves to be too much to handle, get yourselves out of there!"

"Can't know until that time comes." Uppin said with a grin, and Elder Rajim sighed, twisting his beard once more, "There you go again."

"He's always like that, Elder." Jale muttered and I laughed, "But that's why we love him!"

"Oh, well." Elder Rajim sighed and gave us a small smile, "All right, I suppose you should leave now, if you're going. Please be careful." And then he came over and kissed the top of Marica's head, and then mine, making me flinch away slightly as he messed up my hair, "Dad!"

"Gotcha!" Liu and Uppin laughed at us, and Marica and I glared at them, "Whatever you say, Dad…"

Elder Rajim then walked away, and I noticed a very large butterfly floating nearby, I grinned and snuck over while Dirk explained what we were going to do at Eastern Hill.

The butterfly was huge! Nearly the size of my chest, and the most beautiful shade of Indigo and Purple as anything I had ever seen. I recognized the species as a rare poisonous species, not usually seen in the village, whose pollen spores were _extremely _poisonous. I wanted it.

I snuck over and reached into my sack, under my obi, pulling out a tiny container of powdered pollen that butterflies love. I sprinkled it into my hand and then held it out to the butterfly, being still as a statue.

I could practically see the butterfly jump as it caught a whiff of the pollen, before it swooped down and landed on my hand, slurping up the pollen with its long proboscis tongue. I shifted my other hand to grab something from under my obi, and right before the butterfly finished eating I pulled out a tiny tag, it had a small rune symbol on it, and I smirked, pressing it against the butterfly's left wing.

The butterfly fluttered wildly as the tag sparked, burning the rune symbol into the butterfly's wing, and then transferring it to the other wing. Then the butterfly was still, slowly wagging its wings as I grinned.

"I think I'll call you Jiu!" I exclaimed letting the butterfly flutter away onto some flowers, it seemed to glance at me, regarding me slightly before going back to sucking on flower pollen.

"Come on, Meya!" Uppin called from behind me, "We're heading out!"

"Okay!" I turned to the butterfly and held my hand out, "Come on Jiu!" I called and the butterfly swooped over, landing on my hand before flitting up into my hair, and landing on my ribbon there. I grinned and then ran after the others as we all left Citro Village.

"Eastern Hill, here we come!" Uppin exclaimed excitedly and we all laughed.

* * *

As we were walking I was whispering things to Jiu, and Liu noticed him.

"Uh, Meya…you do realize there's a giant bug on your head…right?" he asked, weirded out and the others looked over with wide eyes.

"Oh gross! Meya! Get it off you!" Marica exclaimed, turning slightly green.

I scowled at her, as Uppin came over, looking up at the giant butterfly.

"That's a _big_ butterfly…" he muttered as Jiu waved his wings, each one nearly reaching down to my ears.

"He's my butterfly Marica, and you're my _little_ sister so you can't tell me what to do!" I exclaimed, wagging my finger at her.

"B-b-but! It's so…so…big! And Gross!" she cried, doing a little flinchy thing.

"I know that!...Isn't he so cool?" I asked Jale, and he just shook his head with a small grin, "Only you Meya…only you."

"His name is Jiu! Like you Liu!" I exclaimed and Liu gave me a weird look.

"Yeah…whatever you say Meya…but isn't that bug-"

"Butterfly." I corrected.

"Butterfly, isn't it poisonous?" he asked cautiously, and I grinned.

"You betcha! That's why I caught him! His spores can stun or poison or even burn anything they touch! And he changes color with whichever one he uses, Gold, Emerald Green, or Crimson Red respectively. He can definitely help us if we bump into anything _other_ than Laggarts along the way!" I explained happily, watching in amusement as they all, even Dirk, took a step back.

Just then, a trio of giant X Bees appeared out of no where and attacked us.

"Oh great!" Marica cried, "_More_ bugs!"

I laughed and got into position as Liu and Marica both decided to watch rather than fight alongside us.

Uppin attacked first with his cudgel, hitting the middle X Bee, while Jale and Dirk both attacked the one on the right taking it out.

I jumped forward with Jiu and let him go at the last X Bee, as I threw a poison dart at the X Bee Uppin had failed to kill.

"Jiu, Pannustalkin!" I shouted and grinned as Jiu turned red and seemed to catch fire, before flying into the last X Bee and causing it to blow up on impact. Jiu flew back to me, once again an Indigo-Blue color, landing on my head.

We all calmed down once we were sure there were no other X Bees, and the others came over to gawk at Jiu and his awesomeness.

"Wow Meya! That was so cool!" Uppin shouted, leaning in to see Jiu, "Yeah, your butterfly BLEW UP that X Bee!" Liu exclaimed in awe.

"I didn't know those bugs could catch fire like that." Dirk said, crossing his arms wearily, and I grinned.

"Yep! That was his Burn Spore." I explained, Jale gave me a look.

"What was that that you said Meya, before he attacked?" he asked, eying the butterfly that was now fluttering contentedly atop my head.

"Oh that?" I asked nonchalantly, "That's just what I say for that attack, it means 'Fire striker' and is basically what he does, 'strike' an enemy while on 'fire'" I smirked and walked away, down the hill towards a large house in the distance.

"Hey, what do you guys say to stopping by Yadima's?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Uh, sure, yeah! Let's go see him!" Uppin exclaimed running up next to me, and I then bolted past him, "I'll race you guys!" I shouted, causing Jiu to fly off my head and chase after me.

"H-hey! No fair!" Uppin called after me followed by me laughing mock-evilly, "Oh come on, Uppin!" I called in a teasing tone, spinning once to stick my tongue out at them, "Show me what you got!" And I spun back around, with a burst of speed.

The others all raced after me, Uppin almost running next to me, followed by Marica and then Liu, though Dirk decided just to jog after us, and I couldn't see Jale.

* * *

When we finally got there, it was to see Jale standing over by Yadima, just talking.

"HEY!" Uppin and I yelled, "How'd you get in front of us?"

Jale just smirked and ignored us, so in retaliation I glomped him and dragged him down to the ground; he let out a loud "whoomph" in surprise, and I just laughed.

Uppin just shook his head with a grin and turned to Yadima, "What's up Yadima?" he asked.

"Yeah, what's with the long face?" Liu asked, laughing quietly as I held Jale to the ground, but then Jale flipped us, and sat on me, saying something about karma or something.

"Oh it's you youngsters, is it?" Yadima asked, finally noticing us, "…What are you doing?" he asked Jale and I, and I quickly shoved Jale off.

"Nothing~" I said, with a small smirk as I watched Jale begrudgedly dust himself off.

"Is something wrong, are your fields alright?" Marica asked, ever the vigilant helping sort.

"Naw." Yadima sighed, looking depressed, "Looks like I got some pretty bad damage to 'em."

"What happened?" I asked, curious.

"It was the darn Laggarts again, if only I was a younger man, I'd be able to fight back against them!" he exclaimed and Uppin and I grinned.

"Don't worry Yadima! We're gonna go get those Laggarts right now! They won't bother you again!" I exclaimed pumping my fist into the air.

"Oh, well I won't keep you then…if you all get a chance and you're free maybe you could help me in my fields, the better stock I make the more food I can sell, of course if you help you get some for free."

"I'll come back and help! And Jiu and I can pollenate all your flowers while we're at it!" I laughed and Yadima tilted his head at me, not even willing to ask what I meant.

"Well, see ya later Yadima!" Uppin called as we all ran off to find the Laggarts; Jale, Uppin and I in the lead again.

Even before we got out of sight of Yadima's house, we ran into a trio of Laggarts, apparently headed in Yadima's direction.

"Hey you Laggarts! Stop right there!" I yelled, throwing my darts at all three of them, Uppin, Jale, and Dirk then finished them in one synchronized attack after that.

"That was easy! See Liu, piece of cake, just like you said!" I cheered, collecting three Laggart Pelts with Dirk's help. No one really liked skinning the weird yellow monsters, but the pelts were worth some money, so someone had to do it.

We continued heading to the Eastern Hills, way off to the East of us (duh…) and managed to avoid any other monsters, and Dirk even gave us a small lesson in weapon strategies. And Uppin somehow convinced Dirk to trade his Bone Staff for Uppin's Cudgel.

* * *

As soon as we reached the beginning of the Hills a pair of Laggarts jumped out and totally freaked out Liu, who hid behind me.

The Laggarts attacked before we could even defend ourselves, both targeting Uppin and laying hits before Jale and I took them out with my Poison Darts and his Bone Fists.

I found a Medicine on one of them, and then Dirk and I grabbed another pair of Pelts from them.

"Whew! That was scary!" Liu exclaimed and I rolled my eyes, "Didn't you guy think those Laggarts were WAY more vicious than usual?" Marica asked and we all nodded.

"Yeah." Uppin answered, a rather shaken appearance on his face and holding his arm.

"Uppin!" I exclaimed, my feminine instincts momentarily taking over, "You're bleeding!" I quickly pulled out one of the medicines and applied it to his would, wrapping it up with some bandages that I was carrying with me.

"Aww…" he whined, "Sisuca is going to kill me…" I frowned, "Me first though, I was supposed to be watching out for you guys…" I shook my head at myself and stood up.

"Those Laggarts are going to pay for that!" I exclaimed, pumping my fist back into the air.

"Something weird is happening on this hill. I can feel it in the air." Jale stated with a very tense expression.

I could feel Jiu fluttering restlessly where he had once again landed on my head, from after the battle. He was shimmering with a near white light, and I was curious as to what it meant.

"You guys can feel it too?" Dirk asked, with a small grin, "Very Perceptive."

"Whoa, whoa!" Liu shouted, looking around cautiously and a little frantically, What do you mean, _something weird is happening_? Like dangerous weird?"

"What's wrong Liu? Don't tell me you're a scaredy cat?" I smirked over at him, simpering quietly.

He ignored me, for the most part, looking at Dirk for answers.

"I'm not sure…" Dirk replied, shaking his head, "What do you wanna do? Should we turn back?"

We all looked over at Uppin, and he grinned at us, pumping a fist into the air, like I had.

"No way!"

"Of course not!" Marica added bravely.

"I'm with them." Jale said, firmly.

"What about you Liu?" Dirk asked, and Liu grinned.

"Yeah, let's go." He said, plainly, though he still looked a little uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're okay with that, Liu?" Marica asked.

"Of course," Liu replied, "Citro Village accepted me without a question, this is my chance to repay you all for all you've done for me."

"Liu…" Uppin started, and Liu turned to him confused, "Yeah?"

"What's the punch line?" he asked, and Liu scowled at him, "I'm serious!" he exclaimed and Uppin laughed.

"I'm an outsider too, remember?" he asked.

It was silent for a few seconds, before Jale walked up to him and promptly smack upside the head.

"Ow!" Uppin yelped, rubbing his head, "What was that for, Jale?"

"I don't want to hear you talking like that." Jale frowned at him seriously.

"Same goes for you, Liu, if you ever say anything like that in front of my father or Sisuca, I'll pound you."

"You're both part of Citro now. That's all there is to it."

"Yeah, so no more talk of being outsiders, you're _all_ my _little babies_ after all, even you Dirk!" I exclaimed, jumping on him again, "You're just my big blue armored baby!"

Everyone laughed at that, and I grinned.

"Plus," I added, getting back on track, "no sense leaving now! There might be more Laggarts around, and if not, I wanna explore!"

"I thought you wanted to sleep?" Jale asked me with a smirk, and I glared at him.

"Don't start that again Jale, or I'll sit on you again!" I barked, and he just laughed at me.

Marica leaned over to the other while Jale and I fought, a confused expression on her face as they watched us.

"Do you guys have any idea what they're talking about?"

"I'm just as confused as you are…" Liu muttered, and Uppin blinked at us.

"If you ask me I'd say they're flirting." Dirk said, a little too loudly, and Jale and I spun around to face him, slightly blushing, both of us scowling darkly at him.

"What was that?" I demanded, "I was not!" I then paused to glance over at Jale and looked him up and down, "He's a year and a half younger than me, anyway, why would I flirt with a _younger_ guy?" I demanded of Dirk, and he just raised his hands in defense.

"Well, you stopped didn't you?" he asked with a grin, and Jale and I just glared at him, crossing our arms.

"Whatever…" we muttered, and I stomped away, Jale and the others following slightly behind me. Jiu started glowing more as we walked and Liu looked up at him.

"Hey, Meya, what's up with your bug?" he asked, and I glanced up at Jiu.

"He's part plant." I stated and the others gave me a weird look, I glanced around at them and then laughed.

"You know, absorbing energy from the sun, or whatever…" I tried clarifying, but failed.

Liu shrugged and we continued on, battling another pair of X Bees, and about a dozen or so more Laggarts before we got to the top. Jiu also helped me find a Mega Medicine and a Cherry Incense just laying around, and I put it in my sack.

We also passed an orb that was meant for protection, if we passed out or beaten in battle we could run back there and no monsters would attack us. I had this thing about rubbing them, ya know, for good luck, and so I did. It glowed and I grinned, sure that something interesting would happen while in the Eastern Hills.

We fought some more Laggarts on the way up to the top of the hill, and I grabbed Pelts from all of the Laggarts we fought, and Marica even found a pair of potions with a few of the Laggarts.

Once we finally reached the top we met a dead end.

"Whew!" Liu exclaimed, "I'm wiped out."

"Yeah, where is that Laggart lair anyway?" Uppin asked, and I shrugged, "I think we passed it." He hummed and crossed his arms, looking a little troubled.

"What's wrong Uppin?" I asked and he shrugged.

"That weird feeling is still bothering me…"

"You still feel that?" Liu asked, "I don't feel it. You still feel it Jale?" he asked and Jale glanced over at him.

"Yep." He said plainly and I laughed, glancing up at Jiu, "And Jiu is still glowing like a star, maybe he can sense it…but I think we should just check again on our way down." I said and the others nodded.

"Okay, we'll head back for now, but let's keep our eyes peeled along the way." Dirk said and we all nodded again and headed back the way we came. Only running into two more Laggarts and an X Bee along the way, to which I collected two more Pelts.

* * *

Right as we started walking down the hill Jiu started flashing white and green and flying around like crazy. Off in the distance birds took flight, I eyed them for a moment, something weird was definitely going on here.

"Hey, Meya, what's wrong with your butterfly?" Uppin asked as Jiu smacked him in the head.

"I don't know, maybe he's-"

Suddenly the ground started to shake and there were loud crashes everywhere. The cliff to the left of us started to crumble, and we all jumped back as rocks and entire sections of the wall fell off the hill.

Green lights exploded from the ground down in the valley below us, traveling in lines and seeming to cause fissures. They shot up so high, they passed us in height, from where we were in the hills, and towered above us.

Whole sections of the valley, as in some sections that were a good two miles or more across, flipped up into the air as giant structures pushed out from under them. The others continued to back up as a giant statue of some sort started to become recognizable off in the distance. It was more than fifty stories high!

I heard a crack, and looked down, the ground I was shaking on was beginning to shatter, and the ground was shaking so badly I slipped, letting out a loud scream as the ground below me finally crumbled and sent be tumbling downward from the top of the mountain sized hill and into the forest quickly appearing below.

"MEYA!" the others screamed, and I noticed Jale and Dirk both trying to grab me, but I was too far gone for them to reach me and continued to scream as I fell through the air.

I noticed the ground and trees rushing up to meet me, and instinctively crossed my arms over my face and shifted so that my head was the farthest from the ground.

* * *

**CRAAAAAAAAAASH! CRackLE! SmAsh! CRASH! BOoooOm!

* * *

**

The ground finally stopped shaking, but the others were already frantically running down towards the bottom of the hill.

"We have to get Meya!" Uppin exclaimed as they ran, Jale was in front and the others were right behind them, "Can you believe that the valley just suddenly changed into a forest?" Uppin demanded, running a little faster.

"What-_are you_ talking-about-Uppin?" Jale shouted from in front of him, nearly tripping over a fallen sapling, "The forest has always been there!"

"What?" Uppin shouted, stopping short, and causing Liu to run into him, and send them both to the ground.

Marica and Dirk, swerved to avoid them, and, realizing they had stopped, Jale spun around to see them.

"W-what do you mean _the forest has always been there_? Didn't you guys see those lights and then that giant statues shot out of the ground!"

"What are _you_ talking about Uppin?" Marica cried, "this is no time to be imagining things! My sister just fell of a _mountain_, Uppin! Not out of a tree, or off the roof, a _mountain_! I for one am not going to stand around and talk about _lights_ that you just imagined out of _nowhere_!" And with that, Marica was running again, Jale right along side her.

Dirk paused to help Uppin and Liu up before they started running again too.

"But I could have sworn…" Uppin shook his head and kept running, "Hey, maybe you just got hit in the head or something, Uppin, there were enough rocks flying around from that weird earthquake." Liu suggested and Uppin frowned.

"I guess…" he said, but continued running, finding Meya was more important.

I groaned as I slowly came to, moving gingerly so as not to upset anything if I had broken anything. It didn't feel like I had, so I rubbed my head lightly and gasped when my head felt wet. I quickly pilled my had away to see…what was it?

"What the heck?" I grumbled confused as to what exactly was on me, it was extremely dark green and gooey, and there were bits and pieces of foliage in it as well.

I twisted slightly, not a smart move, as I hissed and turned back around before kneeling and completely turning around to look behind me. I didn't know what I was looking at, at first. When I realized what it was, I recoiled slightly.

"Oh, eeeewwww!" I exclaimed, swatting at my head to get the stuff off, I had landed in a pile of eggs. Laggart eggs. And had squished a whole lot of them.

Laggart eggs were rather rubbery and bouncy, to an extent, and had apparently broken my fall and well…broke.

Now normal Laggart eggs were about the size of someone's fist and either a shade of Green or Brown, or at times even Yellow, to blend in with their surroundings, and were laid in bunches, resembling wild mushrooms, and there were usually five or six in a bunch, at most.

_These_ Laggart eggs, however, were about length of someone's palm and half that in width. On top of that, these eggs were in groups of fifteen or twenty with there being about twenty-five bunches in one area…And I, lucky me, had managed to squish about half of them.

((A/N: Calculating…calculating…snickers, that's about 300-500 eggs in total, 150-250 having been sat upon by Meya…eww! XD))

"Shit…" I whispered, quickly wipeing off as much of the goo as I could, I must've been in a Laggart nest; I had to get out of here, and fast. Laggarts never left their nests alone for very long, and once they realized I was there, they would all attack me, in a unit. If that happened, I was good as dead.

I staggered to my feet and stumbled away, still trying to get all the green gunk off of my back and out of my hair.

I realized, then, that I had no idea where I was, and there was no one else nearby.

"_Where the heck did this forest come from?_" I wondered as I quickly made my way out. I remembered, at the last second to check and make sure I hadn't dropped anything, and with the exception of Jiu, I had everything I had had before this terrifying ordeal.

"_I wonder where Jiu is…_" I wondered, and then remembered my Nectar Pollen. Without thinking I pulled out the jar I kept it in, and opened it.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, and I sighed, a little put out.

"Oh well…" I muttered, and continued walking, "_So much for that idea…_" I sighed and grimaced as a drop of the irritating green goo, that was still in my hair, nearly fell into my eye.

I growled loudly and kind of spazzed out, flinging my arms around angrily and viciously trying to get the goo off of my person. I was obviously making _far_ too much noise, and before I knew it, I was being attacked.

A large yellow blur attacked me, knocking me to the ground and give me a harsh sense of whiplash. I barely had time to recognize it as a Laggart before it disappeared from my reign of vision.

I tried to get up and shrieked as another Laggart tackled me, they kept coming and I never got a chance to get to my feet before I suddenly felt lightheaded and apparently blacked out.

* * *

~Unconscious POV~

* * *

_I don't know if the Laggarts kept attacking me, but I was feeling the weirdest sensations as I floated between the realms of consciousness. It felt as though I was floating…but not just being weightless, or whatever, it was the type of floating feeling you get while submerged in the ocean, steadily moving back and forth, up and down, constantly moving, never stopping. _

_You would think I would get nauseous from that type of movement, but it felt so natural to me, as though I moved like this all the time…and believe me, I am neither graceful nor capable enough to be able to move like that, at _any_ time. _

"_Now it sounds as though someone's calling my name…who is it? No, wait, it's more than one voice…gah…damn voices in my head…too many to focus on…what are they saying?…Meya? Who's that?…Oh wait, that's my name…Wait…they're getting quieter…I want to go back, see who's talking calling out…but…now there's nothing…what now? I feel, like I'm moving a lot…why? I'm not…awake…am I?…wait…what is that?" _

_I noticed a light off in the distance, I couldn't tell if it was above me, or in front of me. I made my way over to it, and realized I wasn't standing…what was I doing? I kept getting closer to the light, the closer I got, the brighter it got, and the more I could see and hear. Someone was calling me again…Marica?

* * *

_

~Conscious Pov~

* * *

"MEYAAA!" My eyes snapped open and I blinked rapidly, trying to get the flashing colors and shapes to focus and make sense.

"Oh…crap…" I immediately felt sick to my stomach, I wasn't on the ground…I was flying through the air, and fast.

I chanced a quick glance downward, and nearly lost my breakfast. The ground…was over five stories below me.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I screamed.

I couldn't stop, suddenly, things were hitting me, vines! I tried to grab them, and after grasping at air frantically, I finally caught one.

I almost wished I hadn't, considered the _significant_ amount of whiplash I got from grabbing that vine; the Laggart attack was _nothing_ compared to this.

The vine snapped back and forth until it finally began to slow, and then finally came to a slow stop.

I was gasping and panting, the edges of my vision beginning to darken, "_Oh shit, I'm going to pass out again! I have to get down!_" I glanced slowly down, and paled. It wasn't as high as before, maybe three stories, but the vine ended about a meter and a half below me, and I was on the longest vine.

"_How am I going to get down?_" I wondered, desperately looking around, it was beginning to get hard to see, my vision was darkening and the colors wouldn't stay still.

"Meya!" a feminine voice called below me, and I paused to look down, it was Marica again.

"Marica..!" I called weakly, "I…I can't get down…" I could barely make out my younger sister and Jale and the others.

"What?" Marica called, I wasn't sure if it was in disbelief or that she couldn't hear me, so I clarified myself.

"I'M STUCK!" I barked, and quickly tightened my grip on the vine, I was beginning to slip.

"How did she even get up there?" I heard a soft voice ask, it sounded like Liu, but it also sounded very weird, quiet, but as though he were standing right next to me. What was wrong with me.

"I don't know I got up here, damn it! Just help me get _down_!"

"H-hold on!" Marica called and desperately started looking around for something to help me, I doubted she would find anything. At least not before I fell.

* * *

**SSSNAP! SnAp! SNAP!

* * *

**

Speaking of which, I looked up and noticed part of the vine, a good meter or so above me, was beginning to break. My pupils dilated as it snapped, fibre by fibre.

"Guys!" I yelled, my voice strangely higher-pitched than usual, "NOT GOOD!"

The others looked up at me with wide eyes as the vine seemed to jerk me downward, bit by bit.

I looked around desperately for anything to grab onto, and finally noticed another vine, a ways away from me, it was quite a bit lower than I was on this vine, and below it was a thick and sturdy limb of a tree, whose origin wasn't discernable.

"Meya!" the others cried out as my vine broke, I flinched for a split second, before making a wild leap at the other vine.

"_Gah! Open your eyes idiot!_" I mentally screamed at myself, forcing my eyes open, and moving my hand just so, so that I grabbed on to the very end of the other vine.

I froze there for a minute, wondering if I had actually caught the vine, I glanced up and grinned.

"_Oh yeah~! Whose Bad~?_" I did a mental dance and swung my other arm up to grab the vine with that hand as well.

No wishing to jinx myself, I stayed silent as I pulled myself up the other vine until I felt safe, or as safe as I could be. Once there I sighed, and turned to grin down at the others, who looked as relieved as I felt.

"I'm o-kay!" I shouted down to them, and took a deep breath, "_Man, is my adrenaline running!_"

"Can you get down now?" Marica called up to me, she looked somewhat relieved, but knew better than to let down her guard before I was safely down on ol' Terra Firma.

I glanced down to see how I was, position-wise, compared to the limb I had been eying earlier.

"Uh…yep…I think so!" I called, shimming down the vine a little, and then waiting for it to still once more.

"I'm gonna jump down to that branch below me, does it look okay from where you are?" I shouted, and glanced down at the others.

"Looks okay!" Dirk called from where he was standing behind the others, "Go for it, Meya!" Uppin called up as well, "Just be careful!" Marica added, I could almost make out her near-terrified expression.

I took a deep breath, and look down at where I was aiming, I would have to be careful, the limb was wide enough, and thick enough, but it also sloped down, towards where the others were, and if I landed wrong…well, I just wouldn't land wrong, I decided silently.

"Come on Meya…" I thought I heard Uppin say, "You never know unless you try." Which was followed by a couple of smacks from the others. I shook my head and refocused my mind.

"_Alright…Leap of fate…leap of fate…on the count of Three…1…2…-_"

* * *

**SNAP!

* * *

**

"!" I yelped as the vine I was hanging onto snapped, dropping me about a story down and towards the mossy surface of the tree limb. I felt a click, and at the last second I twisted my body and grabbed onto the limb with my hands and feet. I froze, my eyes glued shut…was I alive?

"Meya!" I peeked an eye open, "That was SO COOL!" Uppin cheered from the ground and I slowly opened my eyes to see that I _had_ actually landed on my hands and feet, and I didn't even have a splinter!

I blinked a few times before grinning and slowly righting myself, I wobbled a little but kept my balance.

"HA! I so _totally_ RULE!" I exclaimed, happily pointing my thumb at myself, and turning to look down at them.

My eyes widened, and I nearly fell down out of the tree, "_What the HELL is that behind them?_" I quickly darted down the tree limb, upright, and jumped the last meter or so down the tree.

"Look out!" I exclaimed, shooting a dart at the creature behind them. It let out a roar, giving up its attempt to be silent, and waved its head around, glaring its large, empty yellow eyes at me darkly.

Uppin and the others spun around and had barely enough time to ready their weapons before the _thing_ attacked again.

Marica and Uppin were too far back to be in the fight, so it was Dirk, Jale and I on the vanguard and Liu in the back. I didn't even have enough time to wonder where Jiu had gone.

((A/N: Meya Jale Dirk; Liu (Mid. Back) ))

The _thing_, with its disgusting, slimy red body and skull-shaped, boulder-like head quickly hopped forward and gave Dirk a head-butt. It got in a really good hit, before attempting to retreat backwards, but I hit it with more darts as it moved backwards; not very good sportsmanship, I know, but this _thing_ was literally trying to _kill_ us, I didn't really care at the moment.

Jale and Dirk then double-teamed on it and whacked it pretty hard with their weapons, and Liu followed up on that with a good hit from the back with his staff.

The thing still wasn't dead yet, and I was beginning to get irritated.

"What is it going to take to kill this thing?" I growled, and Jale glanced over at me from my left.

"Let's give it our 'Defense Corps' attack!" he called over to the others and I, and we all nodded our recognition.

"Go!"

Jale and Dirk came in from either side of the monster and attacked it with their hand-held weapons, while I came in their wake and got in real close before throwing my dart at the thing's glowing eye-sockets, followed by Liu who shot it with a blast from his staff as soon as I was out of the way.

The beast let out a loud growl, before falling over and seemingly disintegrating into the ground, leaving behind a slightly shining looking rock in its place.

"Yikes!" Uppin shouted, coming over to us as I darted forward to grab what I realized was Iron Ore, before running back to the others. "What was that thing? We've never faced anything that strong before!"

"It's not over yet!" Liu shouted, pointing over towards where more of the _things_ were coming towards us, making really messed up groans and other noises as the drifted in our direction.

"What are we going to do?" Dirk exclaimed, holding his side from where the monster had attacked him.

Uppin glanced behind us to see that it was relatively clear and that the ruins seemed to be the only to go.

"We're gonna have to retreat for now, back into the ruins, we might be able to lose them!"

"That's our only hope." Dirk confirmed, "All we have to do is find an exit back out of the place and we'll be okay."

"Wh-what if there isn't one?" Liu asked, and I scowled over at him.

"You really wanna stick around and not find out?" I demanded and he looked down slightly.

"She's right Liu, we won't know until we go look! No time to argue about it!" Uppin exclaimed.

"That's right!" Dirk added.

"Let's go!" Uppin cried and we all turned-tail and made a run for it, the things moaning and groaning eerily behind us.

I nearly tripped when something landed on my head, but I sighed in relief when I realized it was just Jiu.

* * *

We didn't stop when we saw the stairs leading upward into the Forest Ruins, even though each and everyone of us seemed to have a sneaking suspicion we weren't going to find any 'back doors.'

Half way up the stairs Uppin tripped over some long lain rubble and nearly fell of the stairway and into the chasm lining either side of it. I had been the closest one to him, when this had happened and so I quickly spun around and attacked another one of the monsters before it could attack Uppin.

"Uppin! Meya!" The others called and I tried to ignore them as I threw dart after dart at the monster, in quick succession, I wasn't let it get close enough to attack us, and wasn't planning on stopping until it was dead.

I heard someone help Uppin up from behind me and grimaced as another monster approached from behind the first.

"Meya, come on!" I heard Liu shout from a short ways away, and grunted as I threw more of my darts, managing to kill one of the monsters, while still throwing more at the second.

"You guys run ahead, I'll catch up!" I grunted out as I realized I was running low on darts.

"Are you crazy?" Marica shouted, "We're not leaving you here!"

"No way!" Uppin agreed, "We're in this together!"

I growled as I noticed even more monsters pouring into the ruins, there was no end to them!

"NO!" I shouted behind me, "It's better if you all run ahead and get out of sight before you draw their attention, I'll have a better chance of getting away if they think it's only me! I can't protect all of you at the same time!"

I threw my last dart, thankfully killing the second monster, the other three or four were still making their way up the stairs. I took that moment to turn slightly and face the others, though I focused on Dirk.

"You know better, Dirk, I can take care of my self, but neither one of us can keep these four safe by ourselves, get them to safety at least until I can slow these guys down, alright? Jiu and I can handle these guys, but if you all keep distracting me we're all going to be in trouble!" I glanced back at the monsters before giving the others one final glance, "I mean it! Get moving! I'll catch up!"

The others still seemed to be hesitant, but I was no longer looking at them, I was focused on the now half-dozen monsters making their way up the hill.

"I think we best do as she says, come on, let's go." I heard Dirk say behind me, and then it was just the sound of five pairs of feet making their way away.

I sighed in relief and took a deep breath, pulling out six of my tags, these all had the same rune on them, but it was different from the one I had used on Jiu.

"Jiu! Palaiistun!" I shouted and waited for Jiu to turn Gold and release a surge of electricity at the monsters before throwing the tags, each one land in between, or in one case, in the eye-sockets of the skull-boulder of the monsters. They were making jerking movements, and twitching from Jiu's stunning spores, and I quickly pulled out four more tags, once again having uniform runes, different from the previous sets. Two of these I tossed to either side of the stairway, and then started running, Jiu flying at my side.

We got about a dozen meters away before the first tag took effect. The roar that sounded as one of the monster's faces exploded was resounding, and a little painful on the ears, but I smirked as it was followed by five other roars of pain. I made it another few meters, almost three-fourths the way up the stairs before I tossed the last two tags, once again to either side of the stairway.

I paused to look back over my shoulder and scowled when I saw three monsters still standing, these ones apparently tougher than the others; they were head-butting a blue wall that had appeared between the two tags I had placed, and I could see, even from where I was standing, that the tags' effect was beginning to wear off. I scowled and faced back the way I was headed to finish making my way up the stairs. The barriers were'nt going to hold those things for long.

* * *

I reached the top, just to see Uppin and the others standing in a dead-end room, the room, or something in it, giving off a weird green glow behind them.

"What's that?" I heard Uppin ask, and glanced over, he was making his way over to the center of the room, where the strange green glow seemed to be coming from.

"What IS that?" Liu asked as well, noticing it also, and all four of them made their way over to it.

"A book?" Uppin whispered, leaning down to look at it, and I frantically glanced between them and the entrance of the room.

Deciding we could spare a moment, I made my way over as well.

"What are you doing?" Dirk exclaimed, frantic, "There's no time for that!"

But Uppin had already touched the book, causing a strange red flash to appear, it…looked like a rune…what kind of book was this?

Then suddenly a short series of images passed through my head, it looked almost like a battle had taken place, everything in the vision had been destroyed, but then…it was gone.

"Did you see that?" Marica exclaimed, and I shook my head violently.

"Yeah." Jale whispered loudly, "I saw it too." Uppin nodded, a troubled expression on his face.

I leaped forward when I felt a presence behind me, and just in time, too.

"See what?" Dirk demanded, "What are you talking about?"

"T-that was…" Liu started, but stopped himself, looking deeply disturbed.

"Did you see it too, Liu?" Dirk demanded, and Liu flinched visibly, "I, uh…no…not a thing…"

"What about you, Meya?" Dirk asked turning to me, "Did you see anything?"

I scowled, but didn't have time to reply before the moans and growls of the monsters suddenly reached us. We all spun around to see lots of glowing red eyes off in the distant shadows of the stairway.

This was extremely disturbing to me though, seeing as when we had fought all of the other things, their eyes had been a baleful yellow.

"Here they come…" Dirk muttered grimly, and Liu made a weird squeaky noise, before backing up and out of the vanguard. I quickly took his place, and grimaced as Dirk yelled back at the others to stop what they were doing and to get ready.

What happened next surprised me, but not by much. Uppin stood up straight, a determined expression on his face and made his way in front of both Dirk and I, Marica and Jale following him.

"W-what are you doing?" he cried, desperately trying to get them back where they had been before.

"Just leave this to us…" Marica said soothingly, sparing me a small glance as she passed me, and I nodded, following the boys to the frontline and allowing Marica to take up the backline.

((A/N: Uppin Jale Meya; Marica (Right Back) ))

"W-wait!" Dirk exclaimed, "Stop! Y-you're going to die!" he finally cried and Uppin chuckled.

"Well, we'll never know that unless we try." He said with a fierce sort of determination that made me extremely proud and respectful of him.

Then, the monsters attacked.

As soon as everyone was in position, Marica shivered, a surprised expression on her face.

"This strange power welling from within my body…Can it be…?"

"That's right little sis," I confirmed with a smirk, "Seems we all finally got in touch with our natural powers! The Marks of the Stars!"

"Yeah! Now we're talkin'!"

"Alright, everybody! Show me what you got!" I shouted, and we all released our fury on the monsters.

"Breath of Flame!" Uppin called out, racing forward to attack the monster across from him, followed by Marica, who shot that one as well, with one of her arrows.

"Bind Flash!" Jale exclaimed, practically pummeling the monster in front of me, so as not to allow them anything suspected. I grinned and called upon the power within me, it was practically a explosion of energy, like a wild animal trying to force its way out.

I pulled out a blank tag and held it to my forehead, eyes closed, breathing in deeply, until I allowed my eyes to snap open, a rune symbol flashing onto my tag. I smirked and flung it at the middle monster, watching smugly as it promptly exploded with a flash akin to that of a radiant sunset.

The others paused to look at me with a surprised expression, but quickly refocused as the monsters made their moves to attack.

The one across from Uppin hopped forward, and made to attack him, but Jale jumped in and blocked the attack, punching it in the face before it could get away.

"Thanks for that!" Uppin called before rushing forward to finish his monster of with his bare hands…er, well with the help of _Dirk's_ Bone Staff. The monster disintegrated, and Jale and Marica double-teamed to finish off the monster across from me, before it even got a chance to attack once. It followed suit, as the other two had, and we all cheered our victory. Grabbing the three Iron Ores that were our spoils, we even found a potion.

"Phew!" Uppin huffed, wiping his forehead a little werely.

"Oh man…" Liu muttered, whether it was in awe or not, I couldn't tell.

"Y-you guys…how did you do that?" Dirk asked quietly, a strange expression on his face.

"I dunno." Uppin replied, honestly, "Touchin' this book must've given us some kind of powers or something."

"Book?" Dirk asked, he hadn't seen the book, obviously.

"Uh-huh. This-" Uppin stopped as he flipped the book open, only to see that there was nothing written in it, "Huh? These pages are blank. Completely blank."

I scowled and leaned over to look at the book, my scowl deepened at what I saw.

"No it's not, Uppin. It's filled with Rune symbols…though…_I've_ never even seen _these_ Runes before." I reached out to touch the book and gasped as I touched the paper. It felt as though I were being electrocuted, but not in a painful way really…more like when electricity passes into and the back out of your body, with out ever shocking you…

I quickly let go with a hiss, and glanced down at my hand, no burn marks or anything…

"Eh…paper-cut." I muttered quietly, and the others gave me a slightly concerned look before Marica seemed to remember something.

"And…It looked like I saw some people fighting when I touched it. And then, all of a sudden, I felt like I could do things I never could before."

"Yeah, One of them said _Mark of the Stars_, just like what you said Meya, that's what these powers must be."

"M-marks of the Stars?" Liu asked, in a stuttering voice.

"That's…that's ridiculous!" Dirk exclaimed and I gave him a sharp look.

"What? Why do you say that, Dirk? Did you not just see Uppin shoot fire? Or Jale send out a bolt of lightning? Or even when I _blew up_ that monster?" I demanded, but Dirk just shook his head at me.

"But it _is_ true." Jale said plainly, and Dirk flinched slightly.

"Why don't you try touching it yourself, Dirk?" Uppin offered, and Dirk sighed, glancing away before finally looking up to see Uppin's grin.

"…Um, okay…" Dirk finally relented, and reached out to touch the book.

We all waited a few seconds, as Dirk frowned down at the book in concentration, but…there was no recognition on his face. I knew before Uppin even asked, what the answer to the question was going to be.

"Well?" Uppin asked, eagerly, but Dirk and I both shook our heads.

"No…" we said at the same time, and Dirk gave me a weird look, "I didn't feel anything." He continued and I sighed.

"It just wasn't his book." Everyone looked a little disappointed, and the whack I got over my head, reminded me of what we had to do.

"What about you, Liu?" Marica asked, and Liu kind of freaked out.

"Who? Me? Oh…no, I'm good." He tried, but Uppin just pushed the book forward.

"Oh, come on, don't be shy." He said, and Liu finally relented, and steeped forward to touch the book.

"Feel anything?" Dirk asked, and Liu paused before shaking his head, negative.

"N-no. Nothing here, either." He stuttered a little and I eyed him, I noticed Jale doing the same in my peripheral, but neither of us said anything.

"Well, did you want to try, Meya?" Uppin turned to me.

I paused, I _had_ seen something like what the others had said, but the last time I touched the book, it shocked me, as though it was warning me that it wasn't for me to touch. Strangely, though…I had never been able to call upon that previous Rune before, the one that completely blew up the monster.

"Uh, no thanks Uppin, I saw the vision you guys are talking about." I explained, and Uppin and the others looked surprised, "It let me use a new Rune tag, but I can already tell that that isn't a book for me to touch…I can feel it." I paused and the others frowned in confusion; I quickly changed the subject.

"But, anyway, there's no time for that now guys," I said, glancing up at Jiu, "we got to get out of here before anymore of those things show up."

"Yeah…ugly things…" I heard Jale mutter to himself and I laughed, causing him to glance over at me surprised.

"Skullguts…" I nodded my head to myself, while the others gave me weird looks, "that's what those things should be called. Skulls with all that red slimy stuff leaking out, i.e. guts; ergo I declare them, Skullguts."

Marica and Liu grimaced at the rightly naming of the gruesome monsters, while Uppin and Jale chuckled light-heartedly, Dirk was silent.

"Well," I started, eying Uppin and the book, "Will you be bringing that along, Uppin?" I asked, and he quickly grinned and nodded.

"I may not know what this book is about, but I think it might be really important. So, yeah, I'm takin' the book!"

"I see…" Dirk muttered, and sighed, "Whew."

"What is it?" Uppin asked, worried, and Dirk shook his head.

"I'm tired. Let's just go back to the village." He sighed again and I groaned, finally remembering the state I was in, I could practically smell the horribleness the Laggart Eggs had caused. And yet I still found I could crack a joke.

"Nice to meet you Tired," I huffed, shivering with a grimace, "I'm Filthy, I think we can get to know each other better on our way to a little place I like to call Citro Village. Would that be okay with you?" I asked, and everyone glanced over at me, and their eyes widened.

"MEYA! EeeeeEEEEeeeeWWwwwW! What is that Stuff?" Marica cried, nearly leaping backwards and away from me.

"Believe me, little sister…you don't want to know…" I grumbled, swatting some of my clumping bangs out of my face.

I heard a quiet snicker and spun around on Jale, who was desperately trying to look innocent.

"DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME JALE!" I screeched, lunging towards him, and causing his cheeks to turn a strange light shade of pink/blue.

"Gah! No! I don't want that stuff on me! Ah! Get away, Meya!" I growled and chased him around in a circle while the others watched us bemused.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Liu asked, one eyebrow raised incredulously. Uppin was watching as well, a grin on his face and arms crossed; Marica had her arms crossed as well.

"No, just leave them, they'll catch up." She muttered, turning to head back down the stairs cautiously.

"I'm with her," Dirk muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, exhausted.

Liu and Uppin shook their heads at Jale and I one more time before following the other two. They were all already half way down the stairs before Jale and I finally noticed.

"HEY! Don't Leave Without US!" we shouted and raced down the stairs, Jale slightly in front of me, as I was still trying to, for all extents and purposes, kill him.

Jiu, fluttering calmly behind me, I almost stopped to wonder what he thought of us, but brushed the thought off. I f he couldn't handle us, he would have already left.

* * *

There is Chapter I, I hope you enjoyed! If not...well...Doom, Doom, Doom, Go now. Lol! Sorry, it is rather hard be professional on a regular basis, especially over the summer. Though I have been taught by the best. Namely a Mr. R, a man who taught as my European History teacher, as well as a few other classes. He is by far, perhaps my favorite teacher that I have ever had, and if I had made a dedication for this story, it would probably have him in it first, followed by family and friends, and etc. but I didn't so his presence is recognized HERE in this bottom-most area. Remember people, being professional isn't a job; it is a way of life. I do not live by it today when I say _**ITS. GOT. CHICKEN LEGS!**_ and then runs randomly into a wall, while the people nearby (namely Kuryo/VanHellsing'sMacabreAnubis1) watch me, completely used to my antics. Well...uhm...Merry Platypus to all, and to all a good Night/Day/Week/Life!


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